Is there an expiration date for this software?

It's so hypocritical that people are excited about win7 when they have been so vitriolic towards Vista, win7 is essentially a tweaked release of vista

That said, I'll probably still upgrade to it from Vista if the enhancements are worthwhile.. the tweaks for Explorer may even be enough to tempt

What are people's "Experience Index/Performance" scores? Surprisingly, mine went down from Vista (Although they probably aren't comparable since Vista goes up to 7.9?)

My score was 3.0, apparently it doesn't like my disk transfer rate. Does 7 want Intel SSD's only? :( I'm thinking this is a chipset/driver issue somewhere...

just installed it in vmware. I must say it is fast. They trimmed down the running processes. I even did a test of putting it under 512mb of ram and it was still fast a bit slow compared to 1gb but it is still fast. And with 1gb setup it is just snappy. So far i am just playing with it. I also noticed it has directx 11.

What I find funny is that all the Vista naysayers think that 7 is like the second coming. 7 is nothing more than Vista with a modified UI and some tweaks. The underpinnings are the same

Looks like microsoft decided to remove the 2.5 million download limit for the next couple of weeks.

Due to an enormous surge in demand, the download experience was not ideal so we listened and took the necessary steps to ensure a good experience. We have clearly heard that many of you want to check out the Windows 7 Beta and, as a result, we have decided remove the initial 2.5 million limit on the public beta for the next two weeks (thru January 24th). During that time you will have access to the beta even if the download number exceeds the 2.5 million unit limit

Such a boring OS. This is Vista SE. No useful UI/functionality improvements over 2000/XP/Vista.

No issues with the install. So many little quirks in Vista now gone. Very happy with this release so far. Just needed to get Bill to become a background task! VistaSE ftw!

I can't find it where can i download it at?. Nevermind i found it lol. going to download the 64 bit version. Please kill the 32bit. 32bit has hit a wall already why we are still supporting 32bit?

I just installed the 64 bit version on my desktop. Chrome doesnt work I am going to have to find a solution for that. My X-Fi didn't have drivers I am downloading them now and hoping it will work when I am done.

I got Windows 7 64 bit working on a spare hard drive. I tried Vista 64 bit on the same computer with a different video card. Installation went quick and smooth. At first boot, the NIC, X-Fi sound card and ATI 4670 didn't have drivers installed. I had to use my other computer to get the NIC drivers, then it got the ATI drivers by itself. The X-Fi drives aren't ready yet, but a third party has some that worked fine. Check out the Creative support forums.

Superfetch and the Windows Experience Tool crashed while messing with it. I suspect there might be something small wrong with my motherboard? Maybe it's just because it's a beta, but I doubt it.

It was a better experience than Vista by far. I'll probably get a new motherboard if I buy it. Just to be sure.

Windows 7 is pretty smooth. And I admit, I was a Vista hater.

This is a clean install from Xp to Windows 7. Loving it thus far.

CAUTION! CONFIRMED MYSELF! MS is handing out DUPE win7 beta keys as of today!!! Win7 beta dupe keys confirmed by comparing keys given on my 8 passport accounts, plus a friends 3 accounts. Keys ARE being duped.

One of the keys activated fine on my laptop. I suspect either the key servers truly are fubar for now or they are only using a handful of keys and using the activation servers to control the 2.5 million limit.

Edit: If you have a key, please compare the first 2 groups with these and report back if yours match:

D9RHV-JG8XC

482XP-6J9WR

RFFTV-J6K7W

JYDV8-H8VXG

7XRCQ-RPY28

Edit 2: Please don't post full keys, just say if any of yours match the first 2 groups from the 5 different keys I was able to get today.

Edit 3: Also, please post when you got your key

You never seem to get the crispness and application speed of a clean install when you upgrade.After testing a fair few betas I reckon a format and install is the least problematic and most reliable way to judge the OS.

Re: #111 - my 'key' is the 5th one.

Install went very fast for me (about 35-min); also, my computer's performance went from 5.9 (out of 5.9) down to 7.2 (out of 7.9) - lowest subscore was CPU (Q9550 @2.86GHz). Obviously now this CPU is a dog.

It's faster than Vista x64 (which I like - and feel that it's very much maligned). It LOOKS like and FEELS like Vista. I'd be hard pressed to tell the difference.

The download took 45-min and just double-clicked on the resulting download (3.15GB) and NERO came up and wrote the thing in just a few minutes. Very impressive. I'm dual-booting between Vista 64 & Windows 7.

So far - impressed as there were no 'issues' whatsoever in any part of the installation routine.

I'm really not liking this so far. Seems like a lot of steps to get to configuration options I'm used to reaching in a few clicks. Maybe that just takes time.

Unfortunately it didn't pick up the integrated Ethernet controller on the motherboard. I can't really go any further until I get that resolved. :-\

Anyone running it in a VM?

Wootness! Got a 64 and 32 key (can't remember which ISO I downloaded), and now I just need to run and buy a blank DVD. I haven't been this excited about an OS since 2001. Hmmm.

Damn 64 meg AGP card is gonna suck though. No shiny for me!

Keys are back online, I just got 3 for 64 bits:

http://lifehacker.com/5128018/windows-7-product-keys-available

The product keys are available if you know where and how to look. I got my 5 each of 32 and 64bit last night.

Name: Windows(R) 7, Ultimate edition
Description: Windows Operating System - Windows(R) 7, RETAIL channel
Partial Product Key: 84GH3
License Status: Licensed

I got it from the wired link, installed it, but network is dead. Working on that now.

Took 33 minutes to install Asus P5B Del with 3 gigs and E8400.

You can install it without a key.

If you are one of the lucky ones to be running the beta today and use Chrome, here's a tip for you.

Current builds of Chrome are broken on Win7 x64. You need to change your command line to start Chrome to be

chrome.exe --in-process-plugins

Otherwise, it will not work on Win7 x64. The 32bit version of Win7 apparently works fine.

This is a known MS bug for Chrome.

Quick question... Can you upgrade from vista-32 bit to windows 7 64 bit? Or do I have to reformat everything.

All seems to be running good now it found all my hardware when I did a clean instal not a upgrade.

It's on MSDN as well, obviously, but the download speeds are all over the place.

Ok I just installed win7 64bit on a partition

In case you where wondering, win7 does indeed just add a win7 value to the windows bootloader if you are already dual booting between xp and vista. As long as you install win7 to a third partition you will easily be tri-booting, or quad-booting in my case as I added ubuntu. Just make sure you are using the windows bootloader (and not grub or smthing).

And unfortunately my college obviously doesn't support win7 so I can't get internet, but other than that it seems pretty cool.

I was able to get mine from Technet, soon as I used IE instead of Chrome.

Hey guys, I clicked the link to download windows 7 32-bit. But my download has stopped after 262 MB. It never go forward. I tried again and again, everytime it stoppes at a point. Even I used DOWNLOAD ACCELERATOR PLUS (DAP). Show guys how to download. I checked microsoft technet website too. It gives a message stating that servers are being updated.

Dowloaded it and it wont both my wired or wireless drivers for windows 7 My laptop is a Toshiba P205d-s7802

This is all I have to say. http://img.4chan.org/b/src/1231547137370.png

You can't click on the link, you have to copy and paste it :(